Foul Behaviour

14:55
Pippa Ainsworth
0 Comments

Earlier in the week my Mum came to see us for the day and we went for a walk, and to do some shopping, in the small town where I live. There are lots of trees so the pavements are all covered in leaves at the moment. No problem there, we quite like seeing all the different colours and Bud loves kicking the fallen leaves. We have another issue covering the pavements in our area however, that of dog mess. I must live in a place full of really inconsiderate dog owners as you can't walk a hundred metres down the street without seeing some, you have to be constantly vigilant. Now Bud is walking everywhere this is even more of an issue.

As we approached the doors to our local supermarket I happened to glance at the pram wheels and was absolutely disgusted to see a big clod of dog poo and leaves stuck to my front wheel. Ugh. Disgusting. I'm usually always on the lookout for these 'deposits' on the pavement so I can only assume that this particular pile had been hiding unders some leaves. Obviously I couldn't walk around a supermarket like that so I ended up using baby wipes to wipe the poo away and clean the wheel. Luckily the supermarket has customer toilets so I could scrub my hands clean afterwards. I was very glad that my Mum was with me so she could look after Bud while I sorted the pram out. I know it is slightly irrational but I hated that the poo had been on my seven week old baby's pram.

I decided to do a bit of research to find out the dangers of dog mess. The Keep Britain Tidy campaign site has some good information. Dog fouling isn't just unsightly is it also dangerous, especially to toddlers. It causes Toxocariasis which is a roundworm infection that can last up to two years! I don't want that for my children.

I'm not anti-dog. Growing up our family always had dogs as pets but they were well behaved and we have always cleaned up after them. Is it too much to ask for everyone else to do the same?

Edited September 2013: My friend Becky, who blogs at Lakes Single Mum, has a lovely daughter whose eyesight has been permanently damaged by the toxicara parasite found in dog poo. They featured in a video for Canadian television explaining just how she is affected by this. Ten children in the UK suffer eyesight damage every year because of this parasite.